Pregnant cavy in AC

[KatieJean]

I want to add another female to my cavy pair. And there were 3 down at the animal control all the same cage with no info.
I went down to check them out and sex them, the first 2 were males. then i picked up a really fat one, and it's a female! so i assume she's pregnant. i don't know how to tell for sure.

I'm not sure what to do. I've never had a pregnant animal of any kind. but i'm even more worried about someone completely uneducated adopting her and not even knowing she's pregnant.
I live in anchorage, ak so there's not a guinea pig rescue i can turn to.

I also would only be able to keep the mom, and have to adopt out the babies, another thing i've never done before.

Anyone have any ideas on what would be best for this little girl?

(broken link removed)
she's the white one with brown ears on the right

 

[VoodooJoint]

Wow! a Himilayan! There are a lot of people who would kill for a Himi girl as pretty as that one!

In my opinion the best thing to do is to get her out of there. She should not be left in a shelter that cannot sex GPs or (if they can sex them) lets the males and female live together. Ugg...and they are on wire! Please talk to the shelter about proper housing of GPs!

You are correct in fearing that she may go to an uneducated home where, if the babies survive, they may end up staying with the mom and any boys would impregnate the mom again.

If you want to adopt her then please do. We will do all we can to help get you through the pregnancy and raising babies. We can also help you adopt them out once they are ready. Alaska may be too far for any "on board" adoptions but we can steer you to all of the other ways of finding suitable homes....unless we have other Alaskan Gps lovers on the board or one of our Canadian members is close.

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Oh, what pretty pigs. Fancy breeds.

It's an AC. They usually do not have much funds, are mostly dogs and cats and not equipped for small animals. Most shelter staff cannot sex pigs, or care to learn to quite frankly.

They do need out of there. Are you signed up at GL? I'd post in placement. Maybe someone can help.

 

[KatieJean]

The pigs also don't have ANY hay or veggies. just pellets and water.
Is there special nutrition she should be getting?
i know pregnant cavies should be getting alfalfa.

I want to set up a place for her before I get her. Is there anything special I should do, or just a regular C&C cage?

all 3 cavies are so pretty. the other boy looks like this
(broken link removed)

I don't have a GL account because i only have a hotmail email. maybe you could crosspost it for me? you can post my email with it, [email protected]

thanks for the advice and support

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Make sure she is getting Oxbow Cavy Performance, her and the pups should be getting it. Supplement her with extra vitamin C too, chewable sugarless vitamin C only tablets work.

The cage needs to be baby proofed.

 

[KatieJean]

I'm in anchorage, there's no way to get oxbow performance in a hurry.
any second bests?

baby proofed? how do i do that?

thanks for the replies

 

[carrotflavour]

Wow they're gorgeous pigs. Do you know any cavy lovers nearby? You could tell them about the 2 boys and get them adopted too

Good luck with all of it

 

[kat_0521]

I'm in anchorage, there's no way to get oxbow performance in a hurry.
any second bests?

baby proofed? how do i do that?

thanks for the replies

I had to baby-proof my cage recently. I used pieces of cardboard taped to the coroplast and binder-clips to attatch them to the grids. It added an extra 4". The only thing is you may have to change the packing tape-as the babies get older, they'll get curious and start to nibble on it.
I have pics posted in the baby-proofing gallery if you want to see what I mean.
Good luck with the pregnancy!
Oh and if you have a printer, print out the Guinea Pig Guide that's on Cavy Spirit. The one that talks about proper care and nutrition for them. Give it to the teenage whelps at the shelter and see if that makes the situation for the other piggies any better.

 

[kat_0521]

Here's the link that I was talking about:

https://www.guinealynx.info/pamphlet.html

 

[KatieJean]

I did it! I adopted her! this will be her last pregnancy ever!
right now she's munching on alfalfa and carrots
She's sooo cute, does anyone have any name ideas?

Okay I'll make sure to put up some extra cardboard around the cage, thanks for the tip.

and thanks for the link, i printed a few out.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

PICTURES?!

I like Kaia.

 

[KatieJean]

She's a himilayan right?

 

[Christys GPS]

Congrats on the adoption, you will give her a happy home. Yes by looking at her pic she is a Himi. She is beautiful, best of luck with her.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Yes, a beautiful himi. Maybe you will get some cute himi babies depending on what she bred to. Best of luck with big mama. It almost looks as if she has a little quarter crest or dimple.

Your lucky she isn't a roan or dal.

 

[KatieJean]

do roans and dals have difficult pregnancies? do you know if himi's have it easy or not?

well i have the pictures of the 2 possible fathers. it should be interisting.

thanks for the support everyone

 

[Slap Maxwell]

No, if she was a roan or dal, and bred to a roan or dal, you could end up with a lethal.

 

[citronsoul]

She's lovely! Congratulations! I'm sure she's found a great home. How old is she?

 

[VoodooJoint]

Thank you for taking the risk and responsibility of adopting her. You did a good thing KatieJean!

She looks pretty healthy. That's good. It gives the babies and mom a much better chance of a healthy birth.

Read these webpages from Guinea Lynx if you haven't already https://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html#care
https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy.html#diet

 

[AmiableAnimals]

Also sign up and post about her at pigloo.net there is excellent medical support in the forums there.